Student loan

A handful of senators struggled Thursday to hold together a bipartisan deal to keep student loan rates from doubling on July 1 while their colleagues traded political barbs with little more than a week to go before the deadline.

Americans took out more student and auto loans in September to boost consumer borrowing to a record level. But they cut back on credit card borrowing, a sign many remain cautious about taking on high-interest debt.

North Texan Joanne Pierre-Louie was thrilled to become the first in her family to graduate college. But, the American born daughter of immigrants was so focused on finishing — that she neglected to calculate the real cost of a degree at the school of her dreams.